


Of What's In a Name

by yaruna



Series: Of Years Gone By [14]
Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Humor, Legolas POV, POV First Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-04
Updated: 2015-10-04
Packaged: 2018-04-24 18:30:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4930552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yaruna/pseuds/yaruna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Legolas POV</p><p>Wherein Legolas and Aragorn meet up with some of the rangers</p><p>All parts of the series are stand-alone one-shots, though some may have references to previous happenings</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of What's In a Name

**Author's Note:**

> Somewhat bad and tacky humor ahead :)

Nothing could have prepared me for meeting a ranger; they were nothing at all like how Elladan and Elrohir had described them since Estel had joined them. I had been pretty out of it for the first few days after I finally met him again, but when I got my wits about myself I realized Estel looked a bit… unkempt, and this was a bit like Elladan and Elrohir had always explained the rangers to be like. At first, I had believed he just had not had time to shave, while travelling to Imladris and while he had been sitting by me in the Houses of Healing, due to my less than welcome encounter with a Morgul-blade. But as the days went by, it was becoming more and more apparent that that he had stopped shaving. And if I was any judge, he had stopped with his daily baths as well. While Elladan and Elrohir explained much, they had foregone to mention the smell… it was a bit… pungent. Then again, I never would have believe them even if they had.

We were riding through the woods around Imladris, and Estel was constantly giving me concerned looks that annoyed me to no end. Elrond had declared me fit enough to go for a ride. The wound did not bother me anymore, and no poison lingered, but Estel did not seem to believe this. As I felt his eyes on my neck again I sighed and turned around in exasperation.

'Do you not trust your father, Estel?' I asked and he turned a bit red around the ears and adverted his eyes.

'I trust my father.' He muttered, and looked up at me again with glittering eyes. 'It is you that I do not trust.' He grinned.

'You need not trust me if your father has said it to be fine.' I reasoned, and he rolled his eyes.

'I know. But you almost died. Allow me my concern.'

'I am healed, Estel. There is no rime or reason to your feelings.'

'Must there always be?' He said, getting a bit annoyed with me, and I smirked.

'You are taunting me.' He realized, making me chuckle happily.

'Would I?' I smiled, trying my very best to look innocent.

'You would. And I'm glad, for I was not sure you ever would again, for a while.' That served to silence me, and we rode in silence for a while, just enjoying the fresh air and the green trees. When silence reigned, the trees began to sing in the wind, and I felt a calm serenity settle around us.

At least until I heard the singing, if singing it could rightfully be called.

It was not the trees, nor was it elves. The voices were harsh and brutish, and the lyrics were rude.

'Estel…' I muttered, thinking that somehow this was his fault. More than probably it was.

'Yes?' He asked when I would not continue, being too busy trying to figure out just how the singing men would do just what they were singing of. I would think it rather difficult to contort into such a position that you could place your head by your crotch.

'Did you bring your rangers here?' I finally asked.

'Nay.' He shook his head. 'Why? Do you hear something.'

'You could certainly say that. Is it common practice among men to sing of a horse's limb?' I asked, eyebrow quirked. Honestly, I was quite shocked at some of the things that I was hearing, and Estel blushed completely.

'Let us go back, Legolas.' He muttered, and turned his horse.

'So it  _is_  the rangers? Then I shall want to go and meet them.' I grinned. Although their song was not what normally would have made me wish to join, any chance to fluster Estel would happily be taken.

'Legolas…' He sighed, obviously about to beg me not to go there.

'So, not only do you leave without sending a word of your continued existence, now that you are back you do not wish for me to meet your new friends. Am I not worthy then, Estel?'

'That's not…' He started in loud objection, before he realized I was teasing him yet again. 'Fine! Let us go then. I will not take responsibility when you return back to your father much corrupted.'

'You think anyone could corrupt me more than your brothers already have?'

'You'd be surprised.' He answered, completely serious, making me kind of regret my decision to meet the rangers. Maybe Estel would not be the one getting the worst of this.

When we got close enough for even Estel to hear them, he sighed.

'Halbarad.' He muttered before turning to me.

'I am Aragorn, or Strider, among these men, Legolas. Please, do not call me Estel.'

'Strider?' I asked, chuckling silently when Estel glared at me.

'Yes, that is what I am called closer to the west.'

'Very well, Estel. If you so wish, I will call you Aragorn, it makes me no difference.' I shrugged, but frowned when suddenly all singing stopped, and swords were drawn. I immediately grabbed my bow and put an arrow to its string, ready to fire.

'Cease!' Estel said loudly in Westron and I frowned, realizing I would need to remember my language skills. Westron is not a beautiful language, it is about as crude as the men speaking it, although it is useful to be able to speak to men. Especially with the dealings we have with Lake-town. I would not have them stop sending Dorwinion because I could not bother to learn Westron, so I had studied it carefully, although it was many years since I used it as my father, and not I, was normally doing all trade talks.

The men had apparently ignored Estel's command and surrounded us, but I kept my arrow unerringly aimed at the one I had already identified as the leader, probably this Halbarad that Estel had spoken off.

'Lower you bow, Legolas.' Estel said through his teeth in Sindarin and I shook my head.

'Not before they put down their swords.' I snarled at him.

'You have no chance, elf!' Halbarad said proudly and I snorted. I was unsure if he understood what we said or if he just had impeccable timing.

'I would not be so quick to judge against the speed of an elf, human.' I answered in Westron.

'Halbarad!' Estel said in exasperation.

'You are not hurt, Chieftain?' He asked, still looking directly at me.

'Hurt? Why would I be?'

'You left, in the middle of the night, muttering about dark blades, elves, and bad things a-coming. Did you expect us not to come looking for you when you did not return?'

I spared a glance at Estel who looked a bit embarrassed, making me chuckle. This had been a good idea after all.

'Did you make it a habit then; leaving without saying goodbye?' I chuckled teasingly.

'Maybe I should let them take you down, Legolas, when you are getting such enjoyment from my humiliation.'

'They can try.' I smirked, although I was not quite as certain as I made sure to sound.

'You know each other then?' Halbarad asked, and slowly started to lower his sword. I followed suit and slowly let up the tension in my bow.

'He is an old friend.' Estel said with a small smile my way.

'Then let's get back to the party!' A ranger behind us called, and calls went around to everyone, and they were gone, running back to the fire. Only Halbarad stayed behind.

'You had a party when thinking I would be hurt?' Estel asked in a serious voice, but obviously joking.

'We have to rest as well, and now that we have found you, we can even break out the good stuff.' He said, small smile on his face.

'You found me? I seem to recall that I found you.'

'In fact,' I cut in, 'I was the one who found you.' Estel rolled his eyes at me, Halbarad looking at us in confusion. 'Your crude songs and rank smell reach almost all the way to Imladris.' I explained, and he raised an eyebrow in displeasure.

'This is of course no  _friend_  of yours, Aragorn?' He muttered silently, apparently not used to the hearing of elves.

'He is, in fact.' Estel answered in normal tone, knowing I would have heard any comment he had anyways. 'And normally, he is quite likeable, but right now it would appear he has his mind set on being a bit of a stuck-up prince.'

I raised an eyebrow in his direction, but he just looked at me as though he did not understand.

'I merely came here because I wished to see your behavior among men.' I muttered in Sindarin.

'They will not capture you, and they will not torture you. They are quite decent in fact, so just join and have fun.' He answered in kind and I sighed. Maybe he was correct though, I would need to let down my guard a bit among these men. They were friends of Estel after all.

'And thus, I greet you Halbarad, friend of Aragorn. I hope you will not hold my previous behavior against me.' I said with a small nod of my head.

'No harm done.' He said, looking a bit overwhelmed, before he turned to Estel again. 'Prince?' He whispered.

'You are of course aware that elven hearing is highly advanced, and I am as such able to hear your little whispers?' I chuckled, and his reddened face told me he had not known. 'To answer your question, I am the son of the Elvenking of Mirkwood, a fact that E… Aragorn seems to enjoy divulging.' I had made a completely aware slip of the name, and Estel knew this. Should he choose to share this information with anyone else, I had a large quantity of stories to tell of him. 'I am not quite as thrilled about this title as he seems to be, so it would be appreciated if you would keep it to yourself.'

'Sure.' He nodded, still looking slightly stunned. He was about to whisper something to Estel again before he caught himself and directed the question to me directly instead.

'Do you always speak like this?' I was shocked; I had thought I was quite good at Westron, despite my long disuse of it.

'I am sorry; perhaps my command of Westron is not what it should be. Have I offended you?' I asked, and glared at Estel as he started to laugh. My getting embarrassed had not been in the plan at all!

'No. But if you want to blend in, you'd better learn how to talk like a normal man. To be blunt, you sound even more refined than Aragorn did when he arrived.' At least that got Estel to stop laughing, and I smirked in his direction.

'I should  _hope_  that I am more refined that Aragorn.' I snorted and Halbarad actually gave a small chuckle, apparently having figured out our game then.

'Well, join us! We've got drinks to go around for the both of you.' He grinned and I nodded. Estel tried to catch my gaze and shook his head, but I ignored him. Drinks would not hurt, and if I was lucky, I could extract some stories regarding Estel's latest years that he might not feel quite as inclined to share.

Halbarad and Estel quickly disappeared into a tent, probably to discuss some important things, and I soon found myself seated between two happy rangers in front of a fire. There was a company of ten around the fire, and they had already passed around a few rounds of beer when I arrived so I was immediately assaulted with two mugs that were filled to the brim from each direction. I looked at them hesitantly. Of course I know what beer is, but I prefer wine any day, so I have not had much experience with drinking beer.

But I remembered Halbarad's words about blending in, so I accepted both, and drank first one, and then the other in quick order, to the enjoyment of the rangers. It was not long before I was dragged into their songs, if you could indeed label their screaming as singing. It matters not what you would call it however, for it was much fun, which is all that meant anything.

They were not as I had expected men to be among themselves. I had met men on diplomatic missions, but they were always so… diplomatic, in lack for a better word. These men, they were loud, and crude, but somehow they made me laugh. They were young, but yet they had experienced more of the world than I, so I felt like an elfling when I asked them to share their stories, which they were only too happy to do, each talking above the other.

'… and the chieftain! He fell off his horse, straight into the mud. It would all have been fine, if the dog wouldn't have chosen that moment to run over to his master on the other side of the mud pile, and used Strider's head to cross it without wetting its paws. Unfortunately for Strider, for he got his entire mouth filled with mud when the dog jumped on him.' One ranger finished his story. My stomach was truly starting to ache with all the laughing I had done. Or maybe it was from all the drinking, I was not entirely sure.

'He has had experience with mud baths before this!' I chuckled, and was just about to begin telling the story when I felt a hand on my shoulder. It made me jump, which told me I was probably a bit inebriated.

'As I remember it,  _you_  were the intended target of that mud bath.'

'I might've been!' I grinned happily. 'But as always, you managed to return dirtier than I.'

'We were both covered from head to toe, I am not certain you can put a measurement on who was dirtier.'

'As I learnt back then, you are taller and bulkier than I, and therefore it only makes sense that you were covered in more mud.' I said, thinking I was being very smart, but Estel just shook his head in amusement.

'We better get going back, Legolas. While you are healed, Elrond would not forgive me if I did not return you before dark.' I glared at him.

'Do not dare treat me like an elfling. It has been centuries since I had to adhere to a curfew whereas you only have a few decades since the same. If someone is taking anyone back, it will be I taking you back before dark.'

'Very well.' He conceded, a bit too easily I thought, but I let it go.

I stood up, and stumbled. Estel snorted loudly in withheld laughter as he caught me, and I wrapped my arm around his shoulder, holding myself up. The arm he had around my waist had nothing to do with me staying on my feet. Nothing at all!

The rangers were shouting for more stories about their chieftain as young, but Estel just said he would be back in the north at the end of next month, and led me towards the horses. I did not think that I needed to be led anywhere but Estel refused to let me go alone.

'You are drunk.' He said, switching back to Sindarin as we were alone, trying to keep from laughing as I shook my head.

'I do not get drunk, Estel. Slightly inebriated maybe.' I was surprised at the slur of my words and Estel could no longer hold his laughter from escaping.

'Thank you.' He said, a bit more seriously, as he helped me up on Andúnë, and if felt odd to me that he would thank me for getting to help me onto my horse, so I had to ask.

'For what?'

'For keeping to Aragorn.'

'It is just a name, Estel.' I chuckled happily as Andúnë started walking. I had to grab a hold of his mane to stay on his back and the horse snorted in annoyance. Normally he would not let me fall off, but I had an inkling feeling that he was not very happy with me, and might indeed let me fall. Maybe I was just a bit drunk after all.

'Just a name?' Estel said, catching up to us after having gotten on to his own horse.

'A name will not define who you are. No matter if I call you Estel, Aragorn or Strider, you are still the same person. You are hope, you are a future king and you are a ranger. But above all, you are you.'

'You apparently become quite philosophical when you are drunk.' Estel chuckled.

'Not drunk.' I smirked, but again had to take a tight hold of Andúnë's mane as he made a small jump over a stone. I was certain he did it to prove me wrong for he seemed to gloat a bit, walking with his head held high.

'I will call you Estel when we are alone, if you are fine with this.'

'You may call me anything when we are alone.'

'Anything? Truly? Then I learnt quite an interesting word in Westron by the rangers…'

'Never mind! Maybe keeping to Estel will be fine.' He chuckled and we rode in silence for a bit, me concentrating on not sliding off of Andúnë's back, the world spinning a lot more than it usually did.

'You do realize father will kill you?' He said when we got closer to Imladris.

'Your father, or my father?'

'Both, most probably.'

'I should think it more likely that they will kill you. I am, after all, still healing.'

'That is not what you said this afternoon!'

'It is my prerogative to change my mind.' Estel was silent for a long while.

'Maybe we should sleep in the woods tonight?'

'Or we sneak in without anyone ever noticing we were gone?'

'You think that will work?'

'Nay, but I do not think they would be happier to find us sleeping in the woods in the morning, than finding us return drunk in the night.'

'You are drunk, not I. How many beers did you drink anyways?'

I considered his question, trying to remember every drink I had had. It was easy in the beginning, but then I realized they had constantly kept filling up the mugs, even before I had finished, and I had lost track.

'I lost track around thirty.' I mumbled in embarrassment and he stared at me.

'Remind me to never compete in a drinking game against you.'

'Will you have me remind Estel, Aragorn, or Strider?'

'Whomever it may concern.'

'I would have it no other way.' I grinned.

He is himself, after all.


End file.
